Essence
brood lord|thumb]] Essence is the genetic information carried by all life and is key to zerg evolution.Blizzard Entertainment. 2013-01-15. StarCraft II Creative Development Q&A - Part 12. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2013-01-15. Overview The zerg take the essence of their prey, either through consumption or assimilation, and in doing so, incorporate their prey's desired strengths into themselves. This unique ability to steal essence motivated the fallen xel'naga Amon to enslave the zerg during their uplifting on Zerus.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Zurvan (in English). 2013-03-12.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Conversations after Waking the Ancient. (in English). 2013-03-12. The zerg are said to possess a "purity of essence,"Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.Overmind: "Now shall the events set into motion so long ago be made complete. For the Protoss, too, were created by the Xel'Naga. They were the first creation, gifted with a purity of form. And we were the second creation, blessed with a purity of essence." StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Level/area: Full Circle (in English). 1998. along with other species over time.Golden, Christie (June 30, 2009). StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #3: Twilight. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0-7434-7129-9. On Zerus itself, essence can be found in some bodies of water.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Waking the Ancient (in English). 2013-03-12. According to Zurvan the first zerg were born when a single essence split into many. Within the first spawning pool, these essences fought and devoured each other and grew stronger, eventually giving rise to the zerg.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, The Crucible (in English). 2013-03-12. The amount of essence required for a successful evolution varies. For example, in order to evolve the creeper strain of the swarm host, only a single ash worm needed to be killed.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Swarm Host Evolution (in English). 2013-03-12. However, in order to evolve the impaler strain of the hydralisk, multiple impaler colonies had to be destroyed before enough essence was collected.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Hydralisk Evolution (in English). 2013-03-12. In other cases, essence from specific individuals of a chosen species - (e.g. an ursadon matriarch) must be collected to augment the Swarm appropriately.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Harvest of Screams (in English). 2013-03-12. The Swarm can rapidly manipulate the essences of any existing zerg on a wide-scale at any given time.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.(Activision Blizzard). PC. Evolution missions (in English). 2013-03-12. This enables the zerg to quickly adapt to different battlefield scenarios (such as Kaldir's flash freezes). In some cases, deceased zerg can be revived (or "reconstituted") so long as enough essence is available.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Phantoms of the Void (in English). 2013-03-12. Powerful primal zerg, such as the primal Queen of Blades and Dehaka, can "twist" essence to heal themselves and nearby allies. The essence of each zerg type is stored in specific hive structures (such as the lurker den) and allows hives to spawn their various minions from larvae. In the aftermath of Sarah Kerrigan's de-infestation and the subsequent fragmenting of the Swarm during the Second Great War, the zerg lost the essences of many of their strains. They were subsequently forced to seek out the lost strains amongst feral zerg, and re-assimilate their essences through capture or consumption. The corruptor's essence was completely lost and unrecoverableBlizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Mutalisk Evolution (in English). 2013-03-12. for the remainder of the Second Great War.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Whispers of Oblivion, Dark Whispers (in English). 2015-07-15. Some essences cannot be assimilated by the zerg— the protoss cannot be assimilated into the Swarm due to the protection the Khala and energies of the Void provide for Khalai and Nerazim respectively.Furman, Simon (w), Tomás Aira (p). "Creep." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 2 (paperback binding), pp. 26-67. Tokyopop, January 1, 2009. ISBN 978-1427-80831-8. Protoss genetic material itself cannot be used by the zerg. Hybrid essence, while strong, can also not be consumed.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Dehaka (in English). 2013-03-12.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Conversations after Hand of Darkness (in English). 2013-03-12. Terran essence is considered unimpressive by Abathur.2011-11-08, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm interview—Blizzard breaks down Zerg lore. PC Gamer, accessed on 2011-11-19 While some terran individuals can retain their psionic potential and intelligence post-infestation, they are the exception rather than the rule.Neilson, Micky. "StarCraft: Hybrid." Amazing Stories 601 (Spring 2000): 70-75. The essences of the primal pack leaders on Zerus are visually akin to purple-white energy. After being reborn as the primal Queen of Blades on Zerus, Kerrigan slew the pack leaders and absorbed their essences.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Supreme (in English). 2013-03-12. Xel'naga essence is visually akin to golden energy. In accordance to the Infinite Cycle, the elder xel'naga would sacrifice themselves to transfer their essence to their chosen offspring, transforming them into xel'naga themselves.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Legacy of the Void, The Infinite Cycle (in English). 2015-11-10. During the final stages of the End War, Ouros imparted the last of his essence to Kerrigan, transforming her into a xel'naga.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Cycle's End. (in English). 2015. Game Effect ]] Essence is collectable in some Heart of the Swarm missions, allowing Kerrigan to level up. In the mission "Harvest of Screams," the player must collect the essence of several Ursadon matriarchs to make their forces immune to Kaldir's flash freezes. Many evolution missions also involve collecting essence. In Co-op Missions, Dehaka can gather essence from most fallen enemies. Essence allows him to level up, increasing his power and giving him new abilities. References Category:Zerg Category:Resources Category:Co-op Missions